appetite

For the past five years, Brandy Kelty has enjoyed the
Taste of Downtown by sampling a variety of foods and discovering new
restaurants. This year, she’ll be hoping that many new customers find
her as she
serves thousands of beer-battered bratwurst bites and chicken wings at the
tent operated by Sammy’s Sports Bar.

Sammy’s — owned by Tom Kelty Jr.,
Brandy’s husband — is just one of nearly 25 restaurants that
will be dishing up everything from mango margaritas to chorizo and corn
chowder at the sixth annual Taste of Downtown on July 23.

Participating restaurants are offering plenty of new
choices this year, ranging from saffron ice cream (Garden of Eat’n)
and Italian country braised ribs (Capisce?), in addition to favorites from
last year, such as black-bean cakes (Augie’s Front Burner) and kettle
corn (Del’s Popcorn Shop).

Or how about chocolate-covered strawberries, ribeye
sandwiches, banana puff pastries, and cheese fries? The menu ranges from
elegant pasta dishes such as Parmesan risotto with ham, peas, and mushrooms
(Two Olives and A Pepper) to nachos. Wash down all of this grub with
sangria, a frozen mango margarita, strawberry vodka lemonade, or a bloody
Mary.

This is the first appearance at the event by
Sammy’s, which added food to its bar menu in the past year. “We
want to support Downtown Springfield Inc. They are a wonderful
organization,” Brandy Kelty says, “and we have a unique item
here in Springfield — our brat bites — that we want to
promote.” The bratwursts are cut into one-inch pieces, beer-battered,
and fried.

Pease’s Fine Candies and Salted Nuts, the
Firehouse, the Sportsman’s Lounge and the Garden of Eat’n are
among the other new vendors this year.

Kelty says that event organizers told Sammy’s
staffers to prepare enough food to serve 8,000 to 10,000 people, so
they’ve ordered 100 cases of brats containing 52 bratwurst servings
each. “I am looking forward to it,” she says. “I’m
anxious to see how much exposure it gets us. Each vendor has something
unique to their restaurant.”

The event, says DSI promotion and event coordinator
Megan Derrig-Green, gives “the greater Springfield community access
to all the culinary delights downtown Springfield restaurants have to offer
all in one city block. Where else can you try a little sushi, chow down on
a fried-oyster poorboy, and finish off the meal off with a chili
dog?”

The event, which began as a way to promote new
restaurants in the downtown area, is now an established, popular event.
Local restaurants say that Taste of Downtown brings them new customers.

The sixth annual Taste of Downtown, presented by
Isringhausen Imports, is held 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, July 23, on Fifth
Street between Jefferson and Adams streets. Admission is $2, and food
tickets cost $1, with menu items ranging from $1 to $5. Children’s
activities, coordinated by the Old State Capitol Foundation, include
pitching machines, clowns, face-painting, and balloon art.

Up in smoke

If you’re a cigar aficionado, consider traveling
to Havana, Ill., this month for a little smoke and some history.

The Havana Cigar Fest and Beach Bash will be held July
23 at the Pub, 212 W. Main St. in Havana. Tickets for the event, which
features a tour of former downtown cigar factories and a Jimmy Buffett
tribute, are $15. Ten dollars buys you a Caribbean cigar-box dinner, which
includes a Cuban sandwich, mojo chicken with mango and avocado, black beans
and rice with shrimp, and a tropical dessert.

To purchase tickets, stop by the Pub or Havana City
Hall, call 309-251-8804, or visit www.havanacigarfest.com.